Views and reviews of over-looked and under-appreciated culture and creativity

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Blondie's Halloween Party

On Sunday, October 25, 2015, Blondie ran an unusual sequence. The Bumpsteads hosted a Halloween party, and a remarkable assortment of guests showed up (click on image to enlarge).

There have been character cameos in Blondie before -- and cameos in other comics as well. But there were some interesting features about this particular collection assembled by Blondie's creative team, Dean Young and John Marshall. First, most of the characters are from King Features Syndicate strips, the syndicate that also distributes "Blondie." (I've noted the exceptions in the character key below)

Second, all the strips are currently in production, releasing new material on a daily basis (albeit not necessarily from the founding creators).

Note panel B -- it's filled with kids. And note that all the teenage and young adult characters -- Dustin, Luanne, and Jeremy (from Zits) are all using their smartphones. Some characters appear more than once, and some King Features characters don't appear at all.

An interesting sequence, and -- for a comics nerd like me -- one that was great fun.

Character key:

Panel A
1. Prince Valiant from "Prince Valiant" by Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates
2. Snuffy Smith from "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith" by John Rose
3. An unnamed character from "Rhymes with Orange" by Hilary Price
4. Hi and Lois Flagston from "Hi and Lois" by Brian Walker, Greg Walker, and Chance Browne
5. Darryl and Wanda from "Baby Blues" by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Panel C
1. Leroy and Loretta from "The Lockhorns" by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner
2. Luanne DeGroot from "Luanne" by Greg Evans*
3. Mooch and Earl from "Mutts" by Patrick McDonnell
4. Mother Goose and Grimmy from "Mother Goose and Grimm" by Mike Peters
5. Curtis from "Curtis" by Ray Billingsley